Word Finder
Group #1 Xing, Jia
-epidemic of violence: crime is the main sample of this chapter because it affected by the circumstance easy
-Broken window theory: Broken window theory is the principle idea of this chapter, which strongly shows how environment make things different. crime is contagious. And it is a new conception in this book.
-graffi: no one think this small thing would even effect the security problem in a big city. That is a amazing that print wall to remove griff have such a big power .
-atmosphere of terror: in cell experiment, abusive treat of guards is the reason why prisons are nasty. That is very fresh to me.
-Fundamental Attribution Error： actually, this is a scientific explaination of the dispositional people always give other a clear label. we also effece by the label given by others.
-birth order myth: the older sister is not domeneering and younger one is not vebelling when they away from home, which shows how the label work on peopel and the power of others' assumtion.
Group #2 Li, Luosi,Lee, Jihyung
Jihyung Lee - Epidemic: a large number of people or animals suffering from the same disease at the same time, I chose this word because this is one of the most used word in book and this word is the main word of this book.
_ Crime: something which is illegal and which people are punished for. I chose this word because the story and examples are realted this crime. For example, broken window, or New york shooting.
_ anomalus: different from what is normal. I chose this word because 'Goetz; did something that is completely anomalous.
_ Context: the situation in which sth happens or that caused sth to happen: I chose this word because the name of this chapter is 'The power of Context.'
-- Fundamental Attribution Error: People judge the others by characteristics traits not the situations, This is the important words for Power of the Context
i
- a symbol of a particular(135): subject that can show the basic and material meaning of some particular thing;
- chaotic: refferty and to be in imbroglio;
- epidemic of violence(138): all kinds of violence, such as crimes, mudder, and rob, happen in frequency and be thought as usual things.
- vicinity(159): a surrounding, adjacent, or nearby area; neighbourhood;
- preoccupation(167): the state of being preoccupied, especialy mentally.
Connector
Group #1
Group #2 Bai, Xueyin This week, we read the chapter Power of Context, and I think the topic which the author talks in the book is also exist in our real life I think. There are some things in my life or in my living environment which is very similar to the examples the author had in the book. For example, in the past, there are a lot students in my high school cut into the line when we were waiting for food. At first, nobody came out to manage stop this bad behavior, so there were more and more people find some friends of them to cut into the line. And that is very chaotic when we were waiting for the food in the cafeteria. However, couple of weeks after, our school staff came out to watch the lines in the cafeteria and this problem were overcome. Through this story, we can see that the bad behavior were very popular as if no one come out to manage it.
Passage Picker
Group #1 Ko, Ah Ra
Page 146, Paragraph #2
This paragraph shows how Broken Window theory and the Power of Context are related. Especially in the "Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context are on and the same. They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkeringwith the smallest details of the immediate environment. This paragraph help us understand more about this chapter. I mean one of most important paragraph.
Page 153, Paragraph #1
This paragraph shows the purpose of the experiment of creating a prison. It started with " The purpose of the experiment was to try to find out why prisons are such nasty places." It was very interesting to know about this chapter.
Page 157, Paragraph #3
This paragraph shows the conclusion about the honesty experiment of Harshorne and May. It started with "What Hartshorne and May concluded, then, is that something like honesty isn't a fundamental trait, or what they called a "unified" trait." It is very interesting to know and one of the importants part in this chpater.
Page 166, Paragraph #2
This paragraph shows what the Power of Context. Especially it said " what the Power of Context is saying is that those Tipping Points may be as simple and trivial as everyday signs of disorder like graffiti and fare-beating." It explains clearly about the Power of Context.
Page
Group #2 Alyousef,Hassan Qassim
Paragraph # 2 page 139
I chose this paragraph because it is show the connection between the previous chapters.
Paragraph # 2 page 146
I chose this paragraph because it defines the relationship between the power of context and the broken window theory.
Paragraph # 2 page 147
This paragraph illustrates how Goetz lived, so it was interesting for me to know how he lived.
Paragraph # 2 page 158
Because it is very good example which illustrates the FAE , I chose this paragraph
Discussion Director:
Group #1 Chen, Po-Nien
1. Is Bernie Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
2. What is Power of Context?
3. How does “Broken Windows” theory relate to the “Power of Context?”
4. What was the purpose of the experiment of creating a mock prison?
5. What Harshorne and May had concluded after the “honesty experiment?”
6. What is Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?
Group #2Tu, Chieh Jen
1. Is Bernie Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
2. Do you agree or disagree that the broken windows theory suggests crime is contagious?
3. Are humans instinctively conformists who mimic the behavior they see around them?
4. If we imporved the living conditions in prisons in the experiment led by Zimbardo, do you believe it could impact on immates' behavior?
5. How often or to what situation does the environment dictate your behavior i.e. when at the opera versus being at a baseball game?
6. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change?
Travel Tracer
Group #1 Abdulghani, Rashad Essam the event started with Goetz who killed three black teenagers in a subway station in new york city.(to be more accurate inside the train) Where the action begins:the city of new york Where the key events happened: the subways of New York Where the events ended: the city of new york
Group #2 Xie, Jiehao
P134 Goetz killed 3 children in the subway
Where the action begins:New York city
Where the key events happened:the subways of New York
Unidentified male (white tee shirt and Blue ballcap) sneaks through service door while other commuters are exiting the station.
Fare-Beater
Group #2 Lee, Dasol
Literary Luminary
Group #1 Bai, Lirongzi 1) P135, Para2, "The Goetz case has become a symbol of a particular, dark moment in New York City history, the moment when the city's crime problem reached epidemic proportions."
I choose this is because this events is related to the topic well. We can bring some ideas about this chapter by reading this example. 2) P139, Para2, "Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur."
I choose this sentences because writer points out that what he talked about Law of a few and Stickiness is different from Power of context. Maybe we can discuss the difference between them. 3) P142-144. How did David Gunn changed the subway system in NYC ? 4) P160, Para2, "Fundamental Attribution Error- FAE" "Which is a fancy way of saying that when it comes to interpreting other people's behavior, human beings"
I choose this because it is very close to what the mean of power of context. 5) P167, Para2, "Once you understand that context matters, however, that specific and relatively small elements in the environment can serve as Tipping Points, that defeatism is turned upside down."
I choose this because it points out the idea of Power of Context.
Group #2 Zou, Ying, Kim,Young Joon
zouying:
1. P141 If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more winders will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes. ->REASON: This paragraph is easy to understand and also very meaningful. The so called Broken Windows theory, to me, is similar to the sense of the Power of Context. This chapter actually is talking about the detail of the theory.
2. P153 The purpose of the experiment was to try to find out why prisons are such nasty places. Was it because prisons are full of nasty people, or was it because prisons are such nasty environments that they make people nasty? ->REASON: In my personal view, this paragraph is another way to discuss whether people change the environment or are changed by it. Are people controlling the surrounding or being infected? Just as the example goes, who/what make others nasty.
3. P163 Character, then, isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits, and it only seems that way because of a glitch in the way our brains are organized. ->REASON: What attracted me from the paragraph is that I didn’t notice the fact it mentioned. However, it is so proved that I have to add it as my last chosen paragraph. It seems to me, our view of other people changes all the time. We could hate someone after one did something which seems not appropriate to us; even we only know part of the situation. We could alter the attitude towards a nice person to a bad one in a second, only if something happened. Character is more like a bundle of habits ans tendencies on specific circumstances.
Young-Joon Kim
1. Pg. 135 Goetz was easily acquitted on charges of assualt and attempted murder. Outside Goetz's apartment building, on the evening of the verdict, there was a raucous, impromptu street party.
= These senteces are quite interesting, becuase he was a criminal. However, there was a raucous, impromptu street party for Goetz.
2. Pg. 154 I began to feel that I was losing my identity, that the person I call, the person who volunteered to get me into this prison to me (becuas it was a prison to me, it still is a prison to me, I don't regard it as an experiment or a simulation...) was distant from me, was remote, unitl finally I wasn't that person. I was 416. I was really my number and 416 was really going to have to decide what to do.
= The sentences showed that the condition of people who live in prison. He said "I was losing my identity." This is not only his problem but also all people's problem in the prison. This sentence explained well about the power of context. Because, it shows normal people are influenced by environment. For example, college students lost their identities in experiment.
3. An estimated 170,000 people a day were entering the system, by one route or another, without paying a token, Some were kids, who simply jumped over the turnstiles.
= These sentences are shocking. I realized that New York is one of biggest city in the world. However, I did not know that many people rode subway in illegal way. In my opinion, readers can know the dark side of New York city
Summary Group #1 Dai, Wei
Another crucial aspect of the complex processes and mechanisms that cause trends to “tip” into mass popularity is what Gladwell terms the Power of Context. If the environment or historical moment in which a trend is introduced is not right, it is not as likely that the tipping point will be attained. To illustrate the power of context, Gladwell takes on the strangely rapid decline in violent crime rates that occurred in the 1990s in New York City.
Although Gladwell acknowledges that a wide variety of complex factors and variables likely played a role in sparking the decline, he argues convincingly that it was a few small but influential changes in the environment of the city that allowed these factors to tip into a major reduction in crime. He cites the fact that a number of New York City agencies began to make decisions based on the Broken Windows theory, which held that minor, unchecked signs of deterioration in a neighborhood or community could, over time, result in major declines in the quality of living.
#2Huang, Sisi
This chapter suggested the meaning of " The Power of Context" by providing the example of "the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime". It started with the symbolic incident that Bernhard Goetz shot four black teenagers who assaulted him for five dollars in the graffiti covered subway car. This case reflected how dark the New York was in 1980s. However, from 1990, the crime rate of this city was declined incredibly.
The author stated an idea called "the Broken Windows Theory" as an analogy to explain how did the Power of Contextaffected that rapid decrease. According to the concept of Theory, which presented thatthe smallest details change of the immediate environment could tip an epidemic dramatically such as cleaning up the graffiti and punishing fare-beaters. As for the shot occurred on the subway, although the miserable childhood and background of Goetz did associate with the murder, Malcolm Gladwell believed that the real factor directly leading to the horrible consequence was the Power of Context which showed "our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances."
To prove this statement, an experiment conducted by Zimbardo was cited. The purpose of this trial was to find out how environment like aprison influnce peolpe's inner side. Later on, the unexpect quick changes in characteristics of participants who were divided into guards and prisoners shocked scientists after only two days. Obviously, the conclusion drawn by Zimbardo was that "normal people from good schools and happy families could be affacted by merely changing details of their situation." Another research made by Hartshorne and May focused on how schoolchildren between the ages of eight and sixteen cheat under different circumstance.After that, they found out that honesty as a personality was not fundamental trait and children decided whether to cheat or not were affected considerably by the situation.This kind of mistake was supposed to be connected with the structure of our brain. A study about vervetsbehaviors justified that they could deal with information about vervets themselves better that other creatures' signals.Therefore, similar to vervets, human beings always make Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). On the other hand, this kind of tendency allows people to shift characters easily under different context.
In conclusion, due to the immediate details changing on external environment, the Power of Context could tip an epidemic dramatically.
Group discussion questions and answers :
1. Is Bern Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
A1: A considerable number of people in our group believe that he was a hero since he had protected himself successfully under that perticular high-crime-rated cricumstance. And this kind of behavior should not be considered as a murder. However, few people suggested that Bernhard Goetz's reaction was too strong, so he should not be honer as a hero.
2. Do you agree or disagree that the broken windows theory suggests crime is contagious?
A2:We totally agree that theory for the reason that people are influenced by others' behaviors and circumstances around.
3. Are humans instinctively conformists who mimic the behavior they see around them?
A3:Yes. humanbeings are sensitive in their soceity, so enviroment influences their behavior.
4. If we imporved the living conditions in prisons in the experiment led by Zimbardo, do you believe it could impact on immates' behavior?
A4: Yes. The broken window theory suggest the minor leads to the major, so the nasty room makes the evil minds.
5. How often or to what situation does the environment dictate your behavior i.e. when at the opera versus being at a baseball game?
A5: People creats the atmosphere, the atmosphere connects people's emotions.
6. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change?
A6:Yes. Psychologists usually deliver the idiom "look on the bright side" as a therapy to cure melancholic.
Key Points & Answers to the extra discussion questions:
Broken windows theory
Q1:What is the significance of the Broken Window Theory ?
A1:If no one cares about the first broken window, more will be broken. Crime is contagious like this way.
David Gunn's scheme to improve the subway system
Q2:How did David Gunn begin to improve the subway system?
A2:He cleaned up the graffiti on platforms and cars, printed them with standard forms, and picked up trash to make people feel save and clean.
The character of Goetz
Q3:What kind of character did Goetz have? How was his life as a child ?
A3:He was lonely and psychotic. Brought up by an alcoholic and harsh-temper father, Goetz had a miserable childhood. Living in a unsave neighborhood, he complained all the time.
The Power of Context
Q4: What really matters according to the Power of Context?
A4:Details change of external environment can make an effect on people's inner sides.
Main experiments
Q5:Describe three experiments that took place in this chapter.What did they prove?
A5: 1.Experiment about Prison.
Conclusion:"there are certain times and places and conditions when much of that can be sweot away, that there are instances where you can take normal people from good schools and happy families and good neighborhoods and powerfully affect their behavior merely by changing the immediate details of their situation."(Page 155)
2. Experiment about Cheating.
Conclusion:" A trait like honesty, is considerably influenced by the situation."(Page 158)
3.Experiment about Vervets.
Conclusion: "A vervet, in other words, is very good at processing certain kinds of vervetish information, but not so good at processing other kinds of information. The same is true of humans."(Page 159)
Group #1 Xing, Jia
-epidemic of violence: crime is the main sample of this chapter because it affected by the circumstance easy
-Broken window theory: Broken window theory is the principle idea of this chapter, which strongly shows how environment make things different. crime is contagious. And it is a new conception in this book.
-graffi: no one think this small thing would even effect the security problem in a big city. That is a amazing that print wall to remove griff have such a big power .
-atmosphere of terror: in cell experiment, abusive treat of guards is the reason why prisons are nasty. That is very fresh to me.
-Fundamental Attribution Error： actually, this is a scientific explaination of the dispositional people always give other a clear label. we also effece by the label given by others.
-birth order myth: the older sister is not domeneering and younger one is not vebelling when they away from home, which shows how the label work on peopel and the power of others' assumtion.
Group #2 Li, Luosi, Lee, Jihyung
Jihyung Lee
- Epidemic: a large number of people or animals suffering from the same disease at the same time, I chose this word because this is one of the most used word in book and this word is the main word of this book.
_ Crime: something which is illegal and which people are punished for. I chose this word because the story and examples are realted this crime. For example, broken window, or New york shooting.
_ anomalus: different from what is normal. I chose this word because 'Goetz; did something that is completely anomalous.
_ Context: the situation in which sth happens or that caused sth to happen: I chose this word because the name of this chapter is 'The power of Context.'
-- Fundamental Attribution Error: People judge the others by characteristics traits not the situations, This is the important words for Power of the Context
i
- a symbol of a particular(135): subject that can show the basic and material meaning of some particular thing;
- chaotic: refferty and to be in imbroglio;
- epidemic of violence(138): all kinds of violence, such as crimes, mudder, and rob, happen in frequency and be thought as usual things.
- vicinity(159): a surrounding, adjacent, or nearby area; neighbourhood;
- preoccupation(167): the state of being preoccupied, especialy mentally.
Connector
Group #1
Group #2 Bai, Xueyin
This week, we read the chapter Power of Context, and I think the topic which the author talks in the book is also exist in our real life I think. There are some things in my life or in my living environment which is very similar to the examples the author had in the book.
For example, in the past, there are a lot students in my high school cut into the line when we were waiting for food. At first, nobody came out to manage stop this bad behavior, so there were more and more people find some friends of them to cut into the line. And that is very chaotic when we were waiting for the food in the cafeteria. However, couple of weeks after, our school staff came out to watch the lines in the cafeteria and this problem were overcome.
Through this story, we can see that the bad behavior were very popular as if no one come out to manage it.
Passage Picker
Group #1 Ko, Ah Ra
Page 146, Paragraph #2
This paragraph shows how Broken Window theory and the Power of Context are related. Especially in the "Broken Windows theory and the Power of Context are on and the same. They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkeringwith the smallest details of the immediate environment. This paragraph help us understand more about this chapter. I mean one of most important paragraph.
Page 153, Paragraph #1
This paragraph shows the purpose of the experiment of creating a prison. It started with " The purpose of the experiment was to try to find out why prisons are such nasty places." It was very interesting to know about this chapter.
Page 157, Paragraph #3
This paragraph shows the conclusion about the honesty experiment of Harshorne and May. It started with "What Hartshorne and May concluded, then, is that something like honesty isn't a fundamental trait, or what they called a "unified" trait." It is very interesting to know and one of the importants part in this chpater.
Page 166, Paragraph #2
This paragraph shows what the Power of Context. Especially it said " what the Power of Context is saying is that those Tipping Points may be as simple and trivial as everyday signs of disorder like graffiti and fare-beating." It explains clearly about the Power of Context.
Page
Group #2 Alyousef,Hassan Qassim
Paragraph # 2 page 139
I chose this paragraph because it is show the connection between the previous chapters.
Paragraph # 2 page 146
I chose this paragraph because it defines the relationship between the power of context and the broken window theory.
Paragraph # 2 page 147
This paragraph illustrates how Goetz lived, so it was interesting for me to know how he lived.
Paragraph # 2 page 158
Because it is very good example which illustrates the FAE , I chose this paragraph
Discussion Director:
Group #1 Chen, Po-Nien
1. Is Bernie Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
2. What is Power of Context?
3. How does “Broken Windows” theory relate to the “Power of Context?”
4. What was the purpose of the experiment of creating a mock prison?
5. What Harshorne and May had concluded after the “honesty experiment?”
6. What is Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)?
Group #2 Tu, Chieh Jen
1. Is Bernie Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
2. Do you agree or disagree that the broken windows theory suggests crime is contagious?
3. Are humans instinctively conformists who mimic the behavior they see around them?
4. If we imporved the living conditions in prisons in the experiment led by Zimbardo, do you believe it could impact on immates' behavior?
5. How often or to what situation does the environment dictate your behavior i.e. when at the opera versus being at a baseball game?
6. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change?
Travel Tracer
Group #1 Abdulghani, Rashad Essam
the event started with Goetz who killed three black teenagers in a subway station in new york city.(to be more accurate inside the train)
Where the action begins:the city of new york
Where the key events happened: the subways of New York
Where the events ended: the city of new york
Group #2 Xie, Jiehao
P134 Goetz killed 3 children in the subway
Where the action begins:New York city
Where the key events happened:the subways of New York
Where the events ended:New York city
Illustrator
Group #1She, Wu Suk
Griffiti in the subway.
Bernhard Goetz
Fare-Beater
Group #2 Lee, Dasol
Literary Luminary
Group #1 Bai, Lirongzi
1) P135, Para2, "The Goetz case has become a symbol of a particular, dark moment in New York City history, the moment when the city's crime problem reached epidemic proportions."
I choose this is because this events is related to the topic well. We can bring some ideas about this chapter by reading this example.
2) P139, Para2, "Epidemics are sensitive to the conditions and circumstances of the times and places in which they occur."
I choose this sentences because writer points out that what he talked about Law of a few and Stickiness is different from Power of context. Maybe we can discuss the difference between them.
3) P142-144. How did David Gunn changed the subway system in NYC ?
4) P160, Para2, "Fundamental Attribution Error- FAE" "Which is a fancy way of saying that when it comes to interpreting other people's behavior, human beings"
I choose this because it is very close to what the mean of power of context.
5) P167, Para2, "Once you understand that context matters, however, that specific and relatively small elements in the environment can serve as Tipping Points, that defeatism is turned upside down."
I choose this because it points out the idea of Power of Context.
Group #2 Zou, Ying, Kim,Young Joon
zouying:
1. P141
If a window is broken and left unrepaired, people walking by will conclude that no one cares and no one is in charge. Soon, more winders will be broken, and the sense of anarchy will spread from the building to the street on which it faces, sending a signal that anything goes.
->REASON:
This paragraph is easy to understand and also very meaningful. The so called Broken Windows theory, to me, is similar to the sense of the Power of Context. This chapter actually is talking about the detail of the theory.
2. P153
The purpose of the experiment was to try to find out why prisons are such nasty places. Was it because prisons are full of nasty people, or was it because prisons are such nasty environments that they make people nasty?
->REASON:
In my personal view, this paragraph is another way to discuss whether people change the environment or are changed by it. Are people controlling the surrounding or being infected? Just as the example goes, who/what make others nasty.
3. P163
Character, then, isn’t what we think it is or, rather, what we want it to be. It isn’t a stable, easily identifiable set of closely related traits, and it only seems that way because of a glitch in the way our brains are organized.
->REASON:
What attracted me from the paragraph is that I didn’t notice the fact it mentioned. However, it is so proved that I have to add it as my last chosen paragraph. It seems to me, our view of other people changes all the time. We could hate someone after one did something which seems not appropriate to us; even we only know part of the situation. We could alter the attitude towards a nice person to a bad one in a second, only if something happened. Character is more like a bundle of habits ans tendencies on specific circumstances.
Young-Joon Kim
1. Pg. 135 Goetz was easily acquitted on charges of assualt and attempted murder. Outside Goetz's apartment building, on the evening of the verdict, there was a raucous, impromptu street party.
= These senteces are quite interesting, becuase he was a criminal. However, there was a raucous, impromptu street party for Goetz.
2. Pg. 154 I began to feel that I was losing my identity, that the person I call, the person who volunteered to get me into this prison to me (becuas it was a prison to me, it still is a prison to me, I don't regard it as an experiment or a simulation...) was distant from me, was remote, unitl finally I wasn't that person. I was 416. I was really my number and 416 was really going to have to decide what to do.
= The sentences showed that the condition of people who live in prison. He said "I was losing my identity." This is not only his problem but also all people's problem in the prison. This sentence explained well about the power of context. Because, it shows normal people are influenced by environment. For example, college students lost their identities in experiment.
3. An estimated 170,000 people a day were entering the system, by one route or another, without paying a token, Some were kids, who simply jumped over the turnstiles.
= These sentences are shocking. I realized that New York is one of biggest city in the world. However, I did not know that many people rode subway in illegal way. In my opinion, readers can know the dark side of New York city
Summary
Group #1 Dai, Wei
Another crucial aspect of the complex processes and mechanisms that cause trends to “tip” into mass popularity is what Gladwell terms the Power of Context. If the environment or historical moment in which a trend is introduced is not right, it is not as likely that the tipping point will be attained. To illustrate the power of context, Gladwell takes on the strangely rapid decline in violent crime rates that occurred in the 1990s in New York City.
Although Gladwell acknowledges that a wide variety of complex factors and variables likely played a role in sparking the decline, he argues convincingly that it was a few small but influential changes in the environment of the city that allowed these factors to tip into a major reduction in crime. He cites the fact that a number of New York City agencies began to make decisions based on the Broken Windows theory, which held that minor, unchecked signs of deterioration in a neighborhood or community could, over time, result in major declines in the quality of living.
#2 Huang, Sisi
This chapter suggested the meaning of " The Power of Context" by providing the example of "the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime". It started with the symbolic incident that Bernhard Goetz shot four black teenagers who assaulted him for five dollars in the graffiti covered subway car. This case reflected how dark the New York was in 1980s. However, from 1990, the crime rate of this city was declined incredibly.
The author stated an idea called " the Broken Windows Theory" as an analogy to explain how did the Power of Contextaffected that rapid decrease. According to the concept of Theory, which presented that the smallest details change of the immediate environment could tip an epidemic dramatically such as cleaning up the graffiti and punishing fare-beaters. As for the shot occurred on the subway, although the miserable childhood and background of Goetz did associate with the murder, Malcolm Gladwell believed that the real factor directly leading to the horrible consequence was the Power of Context which showed "our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances."
To prove this statement, an experiment conducted by Zimbardo was cited. The purpose of this trial was to find out how environment like aprison influnce peolpe's inner side. Later on, the unexpect quick changes in characteristics of participants who were divided into guards and prisoners shocked scientists after only two days. Obviously, the conclusion drawn by Zimbardo was that "normal people from good schools and happy families could be affacted by merely changing details of their situation." Another research made by Hartshorne and May focused on how schoolchildren between the ages of eight and sixteen cheat under different circumstance.After that, they found out that honesty as a personality was not fundamental trait and children decided whether to cheat or not were affected considerably by the situation.This kind of mistake was supposed to be connected with the structure of our brain. A study about vervetsbehaviors justified that they could deal with information about vervets themselves better that other creatures' signals.Therefore, similar to vervets, human beings always make Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). On the other hand, this kind of tendency allows people to shift characters easily under different context.
In conclusion, due to the immediate details changing on external environment, the Power of Context could tip an epidemic dramatically.
Group discussion questions and answers :
1. Is Bern Goetz a cold-blooded murderer or a heroic vigilante?
A1: A considerable number of people in our group believe that he was a hero since he had protected himself successfully under that perticular high-crime-rated cricumstance. And this kind of behavior should not be considered as a murder. However, few people suggested that Bernhard Goetz's reaction was too strong, so he should not be honer as a hero.
2. Do you agree or disagree that the broken windows theory suggests crime is contagious?
A2:We totally agree that theory for the reason that people are influenced by others' behaviors and circumstances around.
3. Are humans instinctively conformists who mimic the behavior they see around them?
A3:Yes. humanbeings are sensitive in their soceity, so enviroment influences their behavior.
4. If we imporved the living conditions in prisons in the experiment led by Zimbardo, do you believe it could impact on immates' behavior?
A4: Yes. The broken window theory suggest the minor leads to the major, so the nasty room makes the evil minds.
5. How often or to what situation does the environment dictate your behavior i.e. when at the opera versus being at a baseball game?
A5: People creats the atmosphere, the atmosphere connects people's emotions.
6. If we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change?
A6:Yes. Psychologists usually deliver the idiom "look on the bright side" as a therapy to cure melancholic.
Key Points & Answers to the extra discussion questions:
- Broken windows theory
Q1:What is the significance of the Broken Window Theory ?A1:If no one cares about the first broken window, more will be broken. Crime is contagious like this way.
- David Gunn's scheme to improve the subway system
Q2:How did David Gunn begin to improve the subway system?A2:He cleaned up the graffiti on platforms and cars, printed them with standard forms, and picked up trash to make people feel save and clean.
- The character of Goetz
Q3:What kind of character did Goetz have? How was his life as a child ?A3:He was lonely and psychotic. Brought up by an alcoholic and harsh-temper father, Goetz had a miserable childhood. Living in a unsave neighborhood, he complained all the time.
- The Power of Context
Q4: What really matters according to the Power of Context?A4:Details change of external environment can make an effect on people's inner sides.
- Main experiments
Q5:Describe three experiments that took place in this chapter.What did they prove?A5: 1.Experiment about Prison.
Conclusion:"there are certain times and places and conditions when much of that can be sweot away, that there are instances where you can take normal people from good schools and happy families and good neighborhoods and powerfully affect their behavior merely by changing the immediate details of their situation."(Page 155)
2. Experiment about Cheating.
Conclusion:" A trait like honesty, is considerably influenced by the situation."(Page 158)
3.Experiment about Vervets.
Conclusion: "A vervet, in other words, is very good at processing certain kinds of vervetish information, but not so good at processing other kinds of information. The same is true of humans."(Page 159)